


plucking on my heart strings

by jinxfabray



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Lirry Fic Exchange, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-02
Updated: 2014-09-02
Packaged: 2018-02-15 19:49:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2241297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jinxfabray/pseuds/jinxfabray
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It's not that he doesn't want to see Harry, it's just easier if they stay out of each other's way. It works best for everyone, he figures. But now they're alone in the kitchen, and it's only a matter of time before Harry feels his intense stare burning a hole on his back and turns around, and they just stare at each other for a long moment."</p><p>in which harry stays after liam's frat's party to do the dishes, and liam is very confused, because harry broke his heart and walked away, and now he's washing every single cup they have as if it was the usual thing to do after crashing someone else's party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	plucking on my heart strings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sixtywattgloom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sixtywattgloom/gifts).



> SO HERE IT IS  
> this is my entry for the lirry fic exchange, and it's for the lovely kayla who is truly amazing which made me a thousand times more nervous about this but anyway i did my best  
> it is very short and i feel terrible about that (i have issues with abrupt endings I KNOW) but i promise i put a lot of heart into this, i really really hope you enjoy it!
> 
> OH AND ABOUT THE PROMPTS i mixed two so these are the ones i chose (i hope i didn't drift too far apart from the original idea)  
> 1\. rival frat au. liam and harry are in rival frats, and harry and some of his brothers come to crash liam’s frat’s party - it’s mostly stupid, harmless stuff, but harry still ends up staying behind to do the dishes. liam’s just really confused.  
> 2\. we’re kissing without kissing / got it down to a fine art

It never ceases to amaze Liam how incredibly dirty the house is after a party. The floor is covered in something very dark and sticky and he's been scrubbing on his knees for half an hour now but it hasn't made any difference, and he's worried he might not be able to separate his jeans from the sticky substance when he tries to stand up. Most of his brothers have gone to sleep already, but not even the fact that the sun is fully out by now can make Liam leave the place in the terrible state it's in. It's not as if he'd get much sleep if he went to bed anyway, his body is too used to getting up early in the morning so he'll probably bounce right back up if he goes to bed.

He's got his headphones on so he doesn't hear the water running until the song ends. He takes them off, his mind going over every person who lives in the house trying to figure out who could have possibly stayed up doing the dishes, but there's no one who would have willingly done that so either it's someone very drunk and Liam should really go over to stop them before they break anything, or someone has broken in and decided to wash up instead of robbing them when they realized how little there was to steal.

As quietly as he can, he steps into the kitchen. He was very, very wrong, because it's not one of his brothers but it's not a burglar either. It's a tall, lanky guy, who's jamming to what he thinks is an Electric Light Orchestra song from what he can hear him hum as he very carefully washes cup after cup, and he'd recognize those shoulders anywhere, even if it wasn't because the set of curls on top of them is a total give away. He remembers seeing Harry and his own brothers coming into the party hours ago, crashing for the first time in the year, but he did his best to avoid him. It's not that he doesn't want to see Harry, it's just easier if they stay out of each other's way. It works best for everyone, he figures. But now they're alone in the kitchen, and it's only a matter of time before Harry feels his intense stare burning a hole on his back and turns around, and they just stare at each other for a long moment.

"Hey." Harry says after a beat and a grin breaks through, lighting up the whole room. It's so bright and full of pure joy to see Liam there that it's almost blinding, and it's too early (or too late, perhaps) for this.

"Hey, Harry." Liam smiles back because he's too polite to do anything but, and Harry relaxes entirely when he sees he's not being kicked out or anything just yet. "You didn't have to do this, you know?" He gestures towards the sink, and Harry turns the water off without taking his eyes off him, though Liam really wishes he would.  
"That's okay, I couldn't just leave the place looking like a battlefield, especially not when I'm pretty sure us crashing the party had a lot to do with it."

There are so many questions going through Liam's mind that he can't say out loud, and there's birds chirping outside, and this is not at all how he imagined he'd have his first conversation with Harry after the break up. He wants to know if he stayed because he knew he'd stay too, if he got his frat to come because he wanted to see him, if he's trying to mess with him or if he misses him, or if he has moved on so succesfully he'd actually forgotten Liam was here at all. He wants to know all of these things and at the same time, none of them, because he's not sure what he'd do with any sort of answer to any of them at all. It's been too long and he's worked too hard on getting over him to have it all fall apart because he's somehow appeared in his kitchen.

"I miss you."

In most of the scenarios Liam had imagined right after the break up in which he heard those words coming from Harry's lips, they came out slurred, in a hurry, slipping past his lips before he could stop them and he'd always look regretful and embarrassed after. He doesn't look like that. He looks like he thought it through before saying it, like he's proud he put it out there, and he's looking at Liam so expectantly that it doesn't leave him much of a choice. He never could lie to Harry anyway.

"I miss you too. It's really nice to see you again."

And it is, it really is, even if Liam remembers nothing as clearly in life as he remembers breaking up with Harry eight months ago. Every single word still rings in his head when he closes his eyes at night, but if Harry's here now, if he's back and smiling at him, he's not going to try and pretend like he didn't miss him with his entire being every second since that night.

"I think I'm done with these, but we should hang out soon. Catch up and all that." Harry says it as if it's nothing, as if they're casual acquaintances and they haven't been seeing much of each other just because they've been a little busy. As if he didn't break Liam's heart into a million tiny pieces and walked out with most of them still in his pocket.

He goes away, leaving half the cups unwashed, and Liam sits in the kitchen until the rest of the house starts waking up as well, trying to make sure his heart stays inside his chest and his head doesn't explode, because as it usually happens when it comes to Harry, it's all a little too much. It's okay, though, because Harry didn't mean it, it's just a thing people say when they stumble upon someone and don't wanna make it awkward, the whole let's catch up sometime is older than the sun and he's not going to take it seriously and sit around and wait for Harry to call.

Except Harry does call because Harry always means what he says.

 

It was a rainy afternoon eight months ago when it happened. It wasn't a big dramatic moment, there was no screaming and fighting. Harry rolled over in bed and there were tears in his eyes, and Liam just knew.

"I don't feel it anymore. I've been restless for weeks, and I think- I think it's because of this. It's not working, Liam."

It was quick and nearly painless, like ripping off a band aid. Except then Harry had kissed him and left and the world had crumbled around Liam, everything slowly starting to fall apart as he stood silent in the middle of his room. It felt as if he'd been falling deeper and deeper in love with him as if there was no bottom he could ever reach, and he'd suddenly hit the ground. He'd known it was bound to happen, he'd felt Harry drifting away, their relationship slipping through his fingers like sand that would keep falling no matter how hard he tightened his grip on it. College kept them apart, they had different lives, different friends, there were so many things out there they hadn't experienced yet and Harry wanted to do it all but it was too much. Even if Liam was fine with staying back and watching him take the the biggest possible bite out of the world he could manage, it wasn't enough for him. He needed to be entirely free.

"I really wish I could have met you at a different time, you know." He'd said, silent tears rolling down his cheeks as Liam tried not to drown and refused to look at him. "In five years. Out of college, with steady jobs. We could have bought a house and had a June wedding."

It was cruel but Harry didn't know. He was being honest because it was all he knew, but it dug the deepest holes in Liam's heart to hear him say the things he knew so well already. How they could have had it all if he'd been enough for Harry now, enough to keep him around until they were out of the hectic phase that was college. But he wasn't and after this, there was no going back.

 

The first two weeks are nice and simple. They're just hanging out. They used to be friends once, it's easy to fall back into it. But then it's even easier to fall back into everything they once were and Liam notices it, yes, but it's just so natural. Having Harry's head on his laps as they watch Star Wars and he asks everyone's name every time they're on the screen because he's never really paying attention but he thinks they're all pretty, it makes him too happy to risk losing it if he stops to think this through. It's fine. It's not like they're dating again or anything, so Harry can't break up with him again and break his heart once more, because he's not giving him his heart.

The rest of the world notices too, and before too long Louis' knocking at his door with his stern "I'm-the-president-and-you-gotta-listen-to-me" face on, which is never a good sign.

"Someone in this room is being an idiot and for once, it's not me." He says as he drops himself on Liam's bed, kicking the back of his chair softly so he'll stop studying and turn to look at him.

"We're just hanging out."

"See, the fact that I didn't even say what I was going to yell to you about but you still already knew what it was means that it's something that in your mind is deemed worthy of being yelled about, therefore, it is something that you should not be doing."

Louis choosing pre-law as his major seemed like an okay choice at the time, but now Liam's regretting not having said anything to change his mind. Maybe he could have steered him in the direction of something that wouldn't turn all of their conversations into him throwing compelling arguments at Liam. Like Biochem. But then he might have ended up burning the labs down. There was no winning with Louis.

"Listen, it's okay. We're not doing anything, no one's thinking of doing anything, I'm sure Harry has a billion other people he's casually seeing or whatever it is he's doing these days. We're friends, and that's how we'll remain. I promise."

"I like Harry. I really do." Louis starts saying and his face shifts into something else that Liam hates even more, because now it's not Louis calling him out on his bullshit, it's Louis getting protective. It's Louis who sat with him after the break up and made sure he didn't do anything stupid. It's Louis who knows better than anyone else in the world what Harry means to him. "But you have to be careful about this, Liam. Because Harry's oblivious to everything that goes on around him and he'll probably not have even thought about the fact that being friends with an ex is not exactly advisable, and even if he has he'll think it's fine because he's sure you two are over each other."

"We are"

There's a moment of silence and the look on Louis' face is expressive enough. He pats Liam on the head with what feels like a tinge of pity mixed with a lot of affection, and he walks out of the room leaving Liam feeling very confused because he is over Harry. He is. He's been over Harry for so long now.

So yes, he still keeps a lot of his stuff in a box under his bed, and okay, he may have not had any other real relationship since him because a piece of him was constantly waiting for Harry to come back to him, but that was- that's not how it is now. He knows better than that, right?

With a sigh, he drops his head on the book he was reading and decides maybe he doesn't know anything at all.

 

Being aware of how he may not be as entirely over Harry as he thought doesn't help Liam at all. If anything, it makes it all very much worse because now he feels all the little touches and how they make his heart skip, and he realizes with Harry, there's no such thing as little touches. It's constant full on contact, casual straddling, hanging to him like a small koala just because he passed an exam and felt an outburst of joy. It's too much, he can't bear it, but there's no pushing him away. Not when he gets so sad whenever Liam tries to put the tiniest distance between them, but mostly there's no stopping the touching because Liam doesn't really want it to stop.

It's been too long, and he missed Harry so much that even though Louis keeps shooting him these very expressive glances whenever he catches them lying a little too close on the couch, he just can't bring himself to cool it down. Instead, he lets it escalate, and keeps telling himself he's got it all under control.

Harry sits with his legs thrown over his, and scrolls thoughtlessly through his phone, not really looking at it. It's a Friday night and they're at his frat house for a change, and Liam can't help but think maybe Harry's grown tired of having Louis constantly glare at him. It's always weird to be in other fraternities, he feels like he's invading or something, and usually everyone would look at him as if he were. But that's not the case tonight, not here, because apparently the entire universe knows about him and Harry even though they were freshmen and it was a thousand years ago.

Zayn and Niall, the two only people in this frat Liam knows besides Harry, are sitting across from them playing Fifa, and Liam can't keep his eyes away from the telly. He's so caught up in it he doesn't realize Harry's trying to get his attention until he feels his breath on his neck.

"Leeeeeeeeyum." He drags his vowels in such a ridiculous manner that Liam would have usually smiled with fondness, but he's too close, his lips are dragging over his neck, and it shouldn't be so normal. It gives him shivers, but he doesn't move a single inch.

"Yes, Harry?"

He presses a very loud, very wet kiss to his neck and nuzzles his head against him, purring like a delighted kitten.

"I'm very glad you're here, Liam. I missed you."

Liam turns his head and buries a kiss somewhere in his untamed mane that's growing out of control, smiling against his hair.

"I missed you too."

No one spares them a second glance and Liam thinks they could be making out and no one would notice. They really could be, with Harry's mouth still pressed against his collarbone, he'd just have to move a little bit and he could find his lips with his own. Instead Harry kisses his skin and grins at him, and Liam bops his nose and reminds himself to breathe.

"Don't look, but I think we might be witnessing a very important moment in the history of humankind." Harry whispers and points to the TV, where Zayn and Niall have abandoned their controls and are now caught in a very intense tickling fight, but Liam has seen enough of these things go down to know they're staring at each other a little too much, giggling a little too loud, and there is much more than that happening behind the scenes than they can see. Harry seems to be fascinated by it, but Liam fears they might be stopping something very big and very good from occuring, so he nudges him softly.

"We should get out of here." He says and Harry nods, jumping to his feet and holding his hand out. For a moment, Liam is terrified Harry might be leading them to his room because he doesn't know if he can handle being locked up in there with him, so when Harry turns to the door he lets out a relieved sigh. Harry's frat house has a nice backyard that usually looks as if a nuclear explossion had demolished it, but there is a part at the very back of it where Harry grows plants -Liam is pretty convinced he's growing weed too, but he's never dared ask- and it's one of the most beautiful places Liam has ever been to, but that might be just because it feels so much like Harry that he can't help but feel in love with the place.

Harry sits cross legged on the grass, and Liam wanders about for a moment, feeling his eyes glued to his back as he does.

"Those are called Lady Dancing Orchids." Harry says when Liam stops in front of a bunch of yellow flowers, sounding very proud of them. "I like how yellow they are." He goes on, and Liam can't help looking back at him with a fond smile because he's such a child sometimes, a six year old showing off his drawings he worked really hard on, his tongue stuck between his teeth as he colored the sun with his brightest yellow crayon. It melts Liam's heart and it reminds him once again of how very far from being over him he is. At this point, he doubts anyone could ever get over Harry unless they moved to a different country and became monks.

"Are you going to stay over there or will you come sit with me already?" Harry pats the spot next to him until he's got Liam on his side. There is a sudden seriousness in his face that makes Liam's stomach twist because he's been dreading having a serious conversation with Harry for such a long time now. Louis started it all, asking him whether he'd ever discussed their break up with Harry, and now it's all he can think about it, it's turned into this big grey cloud looming over his head.

"Penny for your thoughts?" He asks because he might as well get it over with already. He can be brave when it is necessary, he truly can. He'll hear what Harry has to say.

"I'm sorry for what I did." Harry stares at the flowers, picking on a blade of grass as he speaks, and Liam wants to take it away and hold his hands tightly because it looks like saying it is harder than hearing it, whatever it is that's on Harry's mind. "It was a mistake. It was, I know that now, but back then, and for a very long time after that, I felt like it was what I had to do. I felt like I was aching to be free, not from you... Well, a bit from you. But from you and from everything else. I wanted to fly off into the sun and come back a new person."

Liam doesn't say anything because that much he knows. He always knew Harry was eventually going to do that, it just happened a little sooner than he expected.

"But then when I did- I realized that I'd freed myself from everything but my burdens. What was weighing me down was in here," Harry points at his head and tangles his finger in his long curls, still talking to the flowers, "not in you. Not in college, not in any of all this. It was me, I was the only one getting in my way, and when I let everything else go I was all I had left and it was terrible. I had never been as trapped before."

Harry looks at him and there is so much heaviness in his eyes that Liam has to gather all the self control he has to keep himself from reaching out and hugging him as tightly as humanly possible. For someone who is the most childish person Liam's ever met, Harry's also got the oldest soul and at times like this it seems to shine through his eyes, and the conflict of having both seems to be overwhelming him until he no longer knows who he is. Liam knows, because Liam once knew everything there was to know about Harry, but now he seems to be so much more aware of it and he looks like he's drowning in his own existential crisis and Liam doesn't know what to do.

"I ran away from you when it was me I wanted to run away from and I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry that I hurt you and I'm sorry in the most selfish of ways because I hurt myself and I wish I'd known better." Harry runs his fingers through his hair, his eyes fixed on Liam. "When I realized- when it all came down on me, I wanted to run back to you. I knew you'd know how to fix it all. I knew you'd try harder than anyone else, and that really scared me because I wanted to be the one who would try the hardest, so I stayed here and I- I did my very best. I'm better now, I'm more at peace, and I did it all without you."

There seems to be a point he's trying to make but Liam can't see it and all he's hearing is Harry saying how better off he is without him and how he's learned to deal with himself without his help, so he doesn't need Liam anymore. It feels as if someone was sticking needles onto his heart and he's not going to sit there and let it happen. His phone beeps and it's Louis asking where he is, so he takes it as a sign.

"I have to go." He says as he stands up in a hurry, doing his best not to look at Harry. "Louis needs me. I have to go. We can, uh, we can talk about this later, yes? I really have to go." He keeps talking as he walks to the door, and he doesn't stop excusing himself until he's outside the house. He takes a deep breath and lays his head against the door, shutting his eyes tightly.

 

Nothing ever happens like Liam expects it too. Louis doesn't jump at him with an I Told You So, but he pats his head and lets him choose the movie for the evening, much to the rest of their frat's displeasure because he already chose the night before. Still, they don't say anything, and Liam doesn't want to even imagine what he must look like if they're keeping quiet about it and merely grimacing slightly when he pulls out Iron Man 3.

He doesn't understand it. So much from his past makes more sense now, sure, but still Harry took the time to get closer to him again and all for what? To get a better position to watch how easily Liam's heart got shattered? It doesn't sound like Harry, yet it seems to be exactly what he did.

The movie starts, but Liam can't pay attention to it. Not when all it does is bring back memories from watching it on the theatre with Harry, trying to make him stay focused, having his hand on his thigh, his fingers digging into his skin at all the scary parts. Going back to his dorm afterwards, pressing him up against the door, kissing every inch of his skin until he was dizzy and all he could feel was Harry, Harry everywhere, all around him. That had been exactly what their entire relationship had felt like for Liam. Harry was in every second of his day, a constant in his life, no matter where he went or how far they were, Liam was a tiny rocky planet orbiting around the bright burning sun that was Harry.

One time, in an Astronomy class Harry had signed them up for because he'd been very interested in learning about outer space -he'd ended up finding out it actually meant a lot of physics and maths and it wasn't quite as fun as he'd expected it to be-, they'd learned about the evolution of a star. How it was formed from little bits and pieces of interstellar dust, how it grew hotter and hotter until it was too much and it ended up exploding if it was big enough, or shrinking down to a cold little rock. Liam had been too caught up in staring at how wide eyed Harry got at every single thing he learned, but he remembered some things. He remembered how there was a first stage where the star got its shine by burning hydrogen, and then it went still for a while until there was a helium flash, where it burnt helium very fast, becoming momentarily a very, very bright spot, until it went back to normal.

Burnt out. That's what him and Harry were now. They had their first phase, then another bright moment that Liam made the mistake of thinking would last, and now there is nothing left where there was once a shiny constellation.

The movie ends, and they all go to bed, probably a little high or drunk, but Liam can't make himself move. He feels heavy with the burden of all the memories that have quietly snuck into his mind, and the weight of knowing there is no going back because Harry doesn't need him anymore.

 

They'd met at the cafeteria, waiting in line as Harry stood on his tiptoes, trying to see if there was any fruit that he could get his hands on, and groaning when he saw there was nothing but yoghurt. Liam had turned to ask if everything was alright, and Harry had started ranting about how everyone underestimated how badly young boys like them needed potasium and how just a banana a day would keep them all a lot healthier, if only the stupid school board or whoever it was that put together the menu got their heads out of their asses. It had been both bizarre and incredibly endearing, and Liam had had to bite his lip to keep himself from giggling like a schoolboy at him, but it hadn't quite worked and he'd ended up smiling a little too wide, yet Harry hadn't been bothered. He'd smiled back, and then he'd introduced himself back and that was it for Liam. That handshake had been enough to keep him thinking about this boy that was a little too obssesed with bananas for a whole week and a half until they'd finally bumped into each other again. Harry had hugged him the moment he'd spotted him, as if they were old friends, and they'd had lunch together.

It had been such an easy, natural development, that Liam hadn't been aware of his own feelings growing inside him until Harry had kissed him goodbye once, as they usually did before heading out to their respective classes, but instead of just kissing his cheek or any of what he usually did, he'd pressed his lips on him and walked out very casually, as if it was an every day thing. Liam could still remember how insanely quickly his heart had started beating, how he had forgotten how to breathe for a second, and how hard it had been to get through the rest of his day without seeing Harry, unable to ask him about what had happened, if it had been a mistake or if he'd meant something by it, not until classes were over and he'd nearly run all the way to Harry's dorm.

Harry hadn't even blinked at his ten minute ramble about how he didn't want him to feel like it had to mean something if it had been a mistake because he'd be fine with that too but he really wanted to know because he felt a part of him would be okay with him meaning something by it as well but really, the most important thing was that they were both on the same page and Liam wasn't on any page at all right now so he could place himself in whatever page Harry was on, it was no problem at all, but could Harry please just tell him already and oh he hadn't really given him time to reply had he, he was awfully sorry about that-

Sighing, Harry had kissed him through his incessant blabbering, putting an end to it and to the river of questions that was flooding Liam's head.

"We've been nearly dating except for all the best parts of it for weeks now, I figured it was time we did this too already." Harry had said, in a way that was slightly too cryptic for Liam's dizzy brain to understand, but then he'd kissed him again and pulled him in, closing the door behind him, and everything had been very, very clear.

 

Time passes now just like it did the first time Liam's world fell on his shoulders because of Harry Styles: slowly, with each day being a little easier the one before but still hard, especially when he goes to bed, because when he closes his eyes it's not the silence of the night he hears around him, it's those words over and over again, reminding him of how it's all slipped through his fingers once more. He wades through it all, because moving forward is the one thing he's learned how to do, and because if he doesn't he'll have Louis jumping on his bed until he gets back on his feet. It's easier like this, he can turn autopilot on and let his body do the work, get up, go to class, eat, shower, go back to bed. Simple and efficient.

It's only been three days, though it feels like an eternity, before Louis comes knocking on his door. Liam's been dreading it, because he knows him too well not to see the circles under his eyes and the strain in his smile, and he figured he'd come asking how to help at some point.

"You need to come downstairs."

Liam looks at him from his bed, raising an eyebrow, because that doesn't sound at all like what he was expecting and now he fears Louis might have done something extreme like thrown him a party to cheer him up or something else that will most certainly achieve nothing but force Liam into a situation that he will be desperate to get out of until someone pities him enough to free him from having to pretend to be enjoying himself.

Still, it is Louis asking, so he goes, and by the time he reaches the bottom of the stairs, he realizes he really should have known this was what was happening.

"Hi." Harry says shyly, and Liam wonders if running back upstairs would get him kicked out of the frat for being a coward. "Can we talk?"

Oh, Liam thinks, sure. Because that went so well last time. He nods anyway.

They go back to his room because Liam's frat house isn't as big as Harry's and there aren't that many places they can hide in where they won't be constantly bothered by someone barging in. Harry sits on Liam's bed and Liam doesn't know what to do, can't bring himself to sit next to him, not there, so he hovers awkwardly by the door.

"You didn't let me finish." Harry starts, rubbing his hands on his jeans as he glances at Liam, and he can tell he's nervous which like most things lately, doesn't make sense. "Last time we talked, you ran away, and in retrospective I guess I can see how me telling you how well I was doing without you might have come off wrong."

Harry chuckles softly and Liam can't help but smile a little, because he's got such a contagious laughter that it would take a heart of stone not to laugh along.

"But that's not what I meant. That's not what I meant at all, Liam, what I wanted to say was- would you come here? Please?" Harry's being unfair, using his puppy eyes on him and everything, knowing very well Liam can't resist those, but Liam obliges and sits on the other corner of the bed, still a little wary. "Okay, that's better. See, what I wanted to say was that I wanted to know I could do it on my own. That I could be without you. But not because I want to be without you, okay, it was because I wanted to prove to myself that me wanting to be with you had nothing to do with me depending on you or needing you in some pathetic way. God, I'm not making any sense, am I?"

Liam doesn't know what to say, he still doesn't quite understand what Harry's trying to say but he feels the pieces are slowly falling into place and he thinks he can see what the final picture may look like, and it's a lot better than he thought, but- but he might be once again getting it all wrong.

"The point is, Liam, that I was lost and I fucked up, and then when I could finally settle down and look around I realized there was literally no point in doing all the amazing things I'd dreamed of if I couldn't share them with you after. I love you. I'm so sorry, and I don't even know why I'm telling you all this because I don't even deserve your forgiveness after I treated you like that, so selfishly, but I just wanted you to know, okay? I just-"

Burying his fingers in his hair to pull him closer, breathing him in, it feels right. Liam cuts him off and kisses him until he can't breathe, feeling him smile against his lips, his warmth against him restarting his heart that seemed to have forgotten how to beat until now.

**Author's Note:**

> as usual a big thanks to sara (andwarm @tumblr) for betaing and holding my hand and not letting me give up and being an awesome sister in general


End file.
